Definitive Back-Pain Study? (Biloine Young @ OTW)
Can a single injection of stem cells repair and regenerate diseased lumbar discs?
That question may soon be answered by the first of its kind nationwide study that will test the safety and efficacy of the use of mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs) to replace bone, cartilage and muscle.
Headquartered at the University of California, Davis, the study will be directed by Dr. Kee Kim, associate professor and chief of spinal neurosurgery at UC Davis Health System. He will collaborate with Scott Fishman, professor and chief of pain medicine and co-principal investigator, to monitor the patients' progress.
An estimated 30 million people in the United States suffer from back pain. Degenerative disc disease is the most common cause of low-back pain, which develops with the gradual loss of a material called proteoglycan, which cushions the bones of the spine and enables normal motion.
"Many scientists and clinicians have injected all different kinds of material into the degenerated disc, hoping that something good will happen. Thus far, we have not been very successful, but we hope that a stem cell-based therapy will be...
